Loves Labours Lost
by dont-steal-Hidans-tofu
Summary: When Tsunade calls, and and everyone must return to Konoha for a very important mission, they set out. But when something happens that could threaten the group, will everyone be able to continue? NaruHina, NejiTen, SasuSaku, InoShika, SakuSai
1. laps

To anyone else, we might look like normal people, but truth be told, we weren't. At all. For some of us, you could see our differences from normal people visually, like my pink hair, Sai's jacket, with its uneven sleeves and bottom that cut off right above his stomach, Naruto's 'whiskers', as we called them, or Gaara's 'love' tattoo. Some of us look perfectly normal on the outside, just our insides were different. Ino had nothing strange about how she looked. her blonde hair was always in a ponytail with her bangs brushed to the left side of her face. Shikamaru, Ino's boy toy, was visually normal, except that he was the laziest person I knew, had a large ponytail near the top of his head, and was a certified genius.

_*flashback*_

_Whenever he is acting really lazy, then makes some smarty pants comment, my friend Tenten would roll her eyes and say "genius by birth, lazy by choice" We would all start laughing and then Shikamaru would make some snarky comment about how being lazy hides his being a genius from people he doesn't want to know. By then, we would all be laughing really hard, and Tenten would reply, "well, you're 'real self' must really be something is you need _this much_ laziness to cover it up". We were all rolling on the floor by then, except Tenten, Shikamaru and Gaara, who had shiny red hair, jade eyes and always seems to be wearing tons of eyeliner, even though he claimed to have never worn eyeliner ever. when Ino attacked him with a bottle of makeup remover and only succeeded in making his eyes really bloodshot, we started to believe him. He was the kazekage of the hidden sand village, and spent most of his time with us, in high school. _

_*end of flashback*_

our parents thought we were typical high school best friends. little did they know, we were actually high level ninjas. So when The Hokage, Tsunade, called and informed them that all 13 of us, including Gaara, had better get down to the hidden leaf village real quick or they would be punished, and their punishment would be Tsunade coming to the door and personally requesting to speak to the teen but asking for them using either the name chuunin or jounin depending on their rank. That sent all of them packing right away before meeting up outside the school.

"Wait, we don't have a car big enough for all of us and a giant parade of 13 cars going to a place that is supposed to be secret doesn't seem like a very good plan" Kiba said a minute after they were all together.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious" Temari smirked at him. Kiba didn't get the sarcasm in her voice right away and began to respond.

"Thanks, Temar- Oh" He looked down and shuffled his feet, blushing. we all tried to come up with good ideas of how to get to the village, but no one came up with anything good. We had all come up with something except Neji. Even the 'certified geniuses' idea wouldn't work. So, when Neji cleared his throat and began telling his idea, we all expected another over the top thing that involved vans, buses, limos, whatever. But as he continued, we all looked at him in amazement.

"Well, what if we took Sasuke's Volvo, put the back seats up, paired up and sat on one another's laps?" We all looked around to see if anyone would protest. And with that, we all began pairing up. Couples paired up first, Neji and Tenten, Shikamaru and Ino and Naruto and Hinata. Next were the best friends. My best friend, Naruto, was already taken by his girlfriend, Hinata, and my other best friend, Sasuke, was driving. I almost screamed for joy when I saw Gaara and Temari standing next to each other, partners.

"Sakura!" I heard my name being called and turned to find Sai behind me. I already knew what he wanted to ask, but said it myself.

"Let's be partners!" I bubbled, linking my arm with his and dragging him over to the other partners, which left Kiba and Lee to be partners. They were giving each other the death glare, and finally accepted that no one was going to switch with them.

"Fine, but you have to sit on my lap" Kiba grumbled and they walked to Sasuke's car. I noticed Sasuke glaring at Sai more than a few times. I wondered why Sasuke seemed to have such a problem with me hanging out with Sai. My brain struck a root of an idea, and I followed it to the tree, the maybe Sasuke likes you and thats why he is having this problem tree. I decided that I would try my hardest to figure out what Sasuke's problem was. By then, we were all quite cozy in the car, on each others laps. I could see Sasuke looking at Sai and I in the rearview mirror. I leaned back against Sai's chest and felt his arms encircle my waist in a friendly way that Sasuke didn't like at all. And so, dear Sasuke, let the games begin.


	2. in the way

Sakura was taunting me. I knew it right from the start. And yes, I was very jealous of Sai. She was sitting on _his_ lap, leaning on _his_ chest, with _his _arms around her waist. I would give anything to be that boy, snuggling with Sakura. Shikamaru and Ino were in the front seat, and suddenly Ino cried out,

"This is boring! Lets have some fun!" And with that, she leaned forward and pressed the power button for the radio, and turned the volume up to 25. She flipped through the stations until she came to one playing Life Is A Highway. She starting laughing and then began to sing. One by one, we all joined in, the most willing first, Tenten, Naruto, Sakura. Most followed after like Sai, Kiba, Lee and Temari. The last were caught up in the demands of those around them such as Gaara, Hinata, Shikamaru, Neji and me. Soon, we were all singing and laughing. Sometimes I would start laughing, Then see Sakura and Sai in the rearview mirror and start scowling again. Sometimes Sakura would see how my smile faded when I caught sight of her and Sai, and give me a smirk that said_ how fast can I break you, Sasuke?_ And I knew that if she continued her act with Sai, she could break me very fast. I also knew that she would do whatever it took to get me to tell her why I had such a problem with Sai. My problem was that I liked Sakura. A lot. And if Sai, or anyone for that matter, got in the way of what I wanted, which was Sakura, well, it was their funeral. If I wanted her, then I would get her, just you wait and see. Soon we had arrived at the gates of Konoha and the moment the guards saw my car they lowered their swords and called out to us, not knowing who we were. The guards would not allow them into the city if they saw me with them, so Sakura exited the car and waved. As soon as the guards saw who it was, they began opening the gates. As Sakura began to clamber back onto Sai's lap, she spun around abruptly. A voice we could all hear said,

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my star students and-," Kakashi-sensei leaned around Sakura to look at all the rest of us. As soon as he saw we were on each others laps, his eyes widened, but they widened even more when he caught sight of Lee sitting on Kiba's lap.

"-Lots of others" Kakashi-sensei finished, raising his eyebrows for emphasis. I see Tsunade coming towards the gates. I honked at her and she scowled, which quickly turned to a smile, as she saw her favorite team.

"come, we must discuss your mission" Tsunade said.

"and why you were on each others laps!" Kakashi interjected. It was good to be home


	3. ball

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but if I did, it would be much weirder!

Sasuke: When do I get Sakura?

Me: um, sometime, if your nice!

Sasuke: that depends on your definition of nice. . .

Sakura: SAI! (runs and hugs Sai)

Sasuke: and when do I rip Sai limb from limb

Me: be nice to the other children

Sasuke: * growls *

We were all cramped in Tsunade's office, discussing what our mission was. We were to pretend to be the children of an aristocrat, A.K.A Kakashi. He had already made friends with a man whose children were suspected of being members of Akatsuki. We would attend formal dinners, balls and luncheons. We were to look and act like rich little kids, and keep close attention to the sons whereabouts, and report to Kakashi-sensei if we noticed anything strange. This was a three week long mission. Ino immediately freaked out at the idea of being pampered like a princess for three weeks. Kakashi had a lot of money from past missions he had completed and been paid for completing, so he was an aristocrat by regular terms, but in Konoha, the money was different than the dollars he was paid in for completing missions, usually assassinations.

"guess what?" Kakashi said, looking as excited as Ino. We all looked at him quizzically and even Ino stopped jumping and clapping to look at him.

"we get a limo!" we all started cheering and laughing. After a moment, Tsunade interjected on our fun.

"And speaking of the limo, its here to pick you guys up, but you need to change into the clothing we packed for you, the rich kid clothing. We had to guess on sizes, and we packed everything you should need. But be aware, the suitcases are _huge_. Have a good time, and I will talk to you soon!" we all went to change into the clothing Tsunade had given us, and one by one, we emerged. I was wearing a short blue sundress that had purple hexagons on it that cut of at mid thigh and black gladiator sandals. Sasuke was wearing black skinny jeans, combat boots and a blue long sleeve button up with none of the buttons done up and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His eyes widened and drifted down my legs. Sai walked out in his usual outfit, his black jacket that showed off his abs and black pants. I ran up to him and gave him a hug. Sauke was glaring at us. During the limo ride, I had explained to Sai my idea about Sasuke, and he agreed it was probably a good idea. And so Sai was helping me test Sasuke's patience by allowing me to flirt with him. We already had a plan, and the plan was I would flirt with him for a while, and he would ask me out, right in front of Sasuke, but we would not really be going out. So we were conning Sasuke, but we just wanted him to tell us/me if he liked me or not. And so as Sasuke's eyes skimmed over my legs, I was hugging Sai, his face in my hair near my ear.

"Are you sure this is going to work? "Sai asked me, his face concealed by my hair.

"eventually, yes, it will work." I said back. I released Sai and turned to find Sasuke still staring at my legs. Right then, Kakashi walked in, and everyone else came flooding out of the changing rooms.

"Ok, about the house, it is a 17 bedroom, 14 bathroom mansion I'm renting from a friend who owed me a favor. You all get your own room and bathroom, but if some of you want to share, that's fine too." He looked from Shikamaru and Ino to Naruto and Hinata to Tenten and Neji and then to _me and Sai!_ A glance that did not go unnoticed by Sasuke.

"Anyway, we are attending a welcoming ball tonight, so I suggest you all go take a nap, shower, and choose a dress or suit to wear to the ball. Now, be off with you. Wait, Sai and Sakura could I talk to you for a minute?" Both Sai and I shrugged, and as everyone filed out, some looked at me with quizzical expressions, some looked at Sai with jealousy and one person flat out glared.

"Are you two in a relationship?" Kakashi asked.

"No, we are doing an experiment." immediately, he understood our experiment.

"Well, he has been acting a little weird around you, so maybe this is for the best. You guys can go." Kakashi said. I told Sai my plan for the ball. I would force Sasuke's attention to me, then flirt with Sai. I would also wear a dress that was very eye-catching. Sai went to his room and I went to mine. I ended up wearing a red mini dress that cut off at mid thigh and, had no straps, and was very tight with red stiletto ankle wrap heels that clicked on the cherry wood as I walked into the front room. Sasuke's eyes widened and someone behind him whistled. I walked right past him, pretending not to notice him, and up to Sai, who looked very handsome in a black suit with a red tie. I knew he was uncomfortable without his jacket, brush and ink, but we couldn't look strange, and a boy in an uneven jacket painting images that came alive would attract attention. He offered me his arm and I took it, and we all followed Kakashi to the limo. Sai and I sat next to each other and whispered about tonight's attack on Sasuke. Sai and I would dance and look like a happy couple to our friends, and rich kids to anyone we didn't know.

"Oh, yes, one more thing, you are to call me father, dad, daddy, papa, whatever, just don't call me Kakashi or sensei. If introducing each other, refer to each other as brother or sister and couples, please refrain from kissing where the other guests can see you. You are welcome to find and empty room and kiss there." Kakashi said. Right then, we pulled up in front of a giant house that was at least six stories high. As a man came to open to door of our limo, Kakashi opened his own door from the front seat and went to greet a man on the stairs leading up to the mansion. We all followed him and heard the man ask,

"Are these your children we heard so much about?" he asked, looking at us, stopping at me, and widening his eyes at my pink hair, and stopping again at Sasuke's hair, in spikes that shot from the back of his head.

"well, welcome to my home. You and your entire family is welcome here" the man said to Kakashi. Kakashi nodded and entered the mans home. We followed one at a time nodding to the man as well.

"He thinks we're weird" Shikamaru whispered to Temari. She rolled her eyes.

"No, duh" she breathed back. And we prepared to act normal, something we had never done and never been.


	4. Me

She was dancing with him._ Him!_ How could anyone even be attracted to that emotionless bastard? Let alone Sakura, who should be going out with me! Yet there she was, tight in Sai's arms, swaying lightly in time with the music. She whispered something in his ear and he nodded. She detangled herself from his arms and walked off towards Ino, grabbing her wrist and yanking her and Hinata towards the girls bathroom. This was the time to strike. I walked over to him, and copying Sakura's movement, I yanked him outside, and towards a gazebo.

"what do you think you are doing with Sakura?" I hissed menacingly at him, holding him by the collar of his jacket.

"why? It doesn't concern you. Unless there is something your not telling her about how you actually feel towards her." Strangely enough, he was completely unfazed by my behavior.

"you know perfectly well that this does concern me! She is my teammate! And I wont let you do anything to her!" I yelled, my voice rising with every word.

"was, Sasuke. She was your teammate. But not anymore. Get over it. Get over _yourself_." Sai said, still perfectly calm and unaffected. But what he had said hit a nerve, it hit it hard, and he knew it. I stumbled backwards, wondering if this was really what Sakura thought of me now. Was I really just somebody that she used to know? A figure of the past? A dream she once had, a dream that was dead? Well, fine! That might be the case, but if it was, I would have a plan of attack! I would get Sakura if I had to kill every man in the world to do so! One day she will be mine! I turned back to Sai.

"well, if that's the case, then I'm going to put Sakura to the test." I smirked at him, and walked away. On the way back to the mansion, I took off my tuxedo jacket, loosened my black tie, and undid the buttons on my collar all the way down to my collar bone. I stopped at the door, and ruffled my hair, achieving that slightly sloppy look I knew Sakura loved. I flung my jacket over my shoulder and entered. My plan of attack was not jealousy. My plan of attack was partially ignoring Sakura, thus driving her to me, and partial flirty behavior, but around her. And strike one was just about to happen. I entered the huge ballroom, and saw Sakura's eyes practically bug out when she saw me. I looked around and saw Sai on the farthest corner from Sakura looking at some Monet painting or whatever. Someone announced that it was the siblings dance over the microphone and before Sakura could dash off to be partners with Sai I grabbed her arm, and whispered in her ear:

"you can be my dance, pretty lady" she was taken utterly by surprise, and before she could protest, I had her on the dance floor with her arms wrapped around my neck. Tenten was staring at them in shock over Neji's shoulder. The look on her face said enough. Everyone was in complete shock at our close proximity. To anyone at the party, we might look like happy siblings, but to anyone we knew, we were a shocking pair. The dance ended, and I took the chance to lightly squeeze Sakura's sides. I walked past Kakashi and heard a random snippet of what he was talking about.

"_five?"_ one man said.

"oh, yes five marriages, and thirteen children" Kakashi responded.

"where do you even get the energy the care for all of them, with no wife?" a different man asked.

"well, breakfast is hell, I'll give them that much! Ah, Sasuke! Come and meet some of my friends!" Kakashi called to him. I dutifully walked over to the group of men

"This is my oldest, Sasuke. Sasuke, meet Ibiki, Genma, Raidou, Hayate and Izumo." Kakashi introduced. I made a small bow, knowing that that was the best way a rich boy could show respect for his elders. The men all nodded at me, who in turn asked Kakashi what he needed to ask.

"Otousan*, where is Sakura?" I asked.

"She exited the house from the back a few minutes ago." Kakashi replied.

"he had a very close relationship with his sister, Sakura. Err, she is the one with the pink hair" Kakashi said to the men. I ran out the back door and was confronted with a huge forest of pine trees. I heard voices coming from within the forest, and recognized Sakura's. I silently trekked through the forest, until I came to a clearing where I could clearly hear Sakura and Sai talking. I masked my chakra, and listened as they finished their conversation.

"he's falling for you, Sakura. He's falling hard." Sai said. I could see the smug look on Sakura's face as she nodded in agreement. It made me wonder who they were talking about. After Sakura's next words it hit me.

"I have waited for so long for him to see the light. To see me." I knew who they were talking about.

Me.

Read and review!

*= otousan means father


	5. Camping

When Sasuke is surprised, which doesn't happen very often, he forgets to mask his chakra, so Sai and I knew perfectly well he heard the end of our conversation, and knew our whole plan. He had had no communication with anyone since then, not even Naruto. Tonight we were to on our second excursion with this man, whose name I still did not know, yet I knew his wife's name. she was a flutist named Tayuya from the hidden sound village. We were going to spend the next five days in the mountains, on a camping trip. We were going to set off on the hike in about forty five minutes, I realized, and set to packing, showering, and changing. I ended up wearing denim cuffed capris, a blue, black, and pink plaid button up shirt, hiking shoes, with my hair in a high ponytail, and a black and pink bandana around my neck. I walked towards the front room, where we all to meet before the hike, and heard two of Mr. Man's, as I will refer to him until I ask Kakashi his name, children, Deidara and Sasori, bickering about exploding clay and puppets, and which was stronger. Sasori had red hair and goldish eyes, and at sometimes seemed to be made of wood. Deidara was a whiny little. . .boy? with blonde hair in a ponytail with half his hair covering part of his face. His other children, Hidan, Pein, Konan, Kakuzu, Tobi, Suigetsu and Karin, were lounging on the couch. Sasori and Deidara were both fourteen, Hidan, Pein, Kakuzu and Suigetsu were all eighteen, Konan and Karin were sixteen, and Tobi was twelve. Just as I was about to enter the room and join Tenten, who was also there, talking to Suigetsu, I was yanked into a pantry by my arm. I immediately knew it was Sasuke, and he said the strangest thing.

"when we get to the campground, come with me. I need to tell you something really important." And then he was gone. I exited the pantry feeling dazed, and in a big rush to get up that mountain. And that is exactly what I did. I rushed up that mountain, getting pissed every time Shikamaru stopped for a break, or Ino freaked out over a snake and had to catch her breath. We finally arrived at the peak of the mountains, but before I could run off to find Sasuke, I had to see who I would be sharing tent with. Oh, joy. I got to share a tent with Sasuke. Then I had to listen to Ibiki tell about how he remembered Kakashi telling him we were very close at the ball a few nights ago. _And then,_ I had to help Ino, Shikamaru, Tenten, Neji, Lee, Kiba,_ and_ Gaara set up their tents. And that took almost three hours! After what seemed like eternity, Sasuke walk up to me, took my arm, and slowly pulled me away from the campsite. We walked for quite a while before Sasuke found a clearing that fit his needs, and applied sound Justus, so no one would hear their conversation. He began to speak, and I began to listen.

" At the ball, I was jealous. Ok, that's a lie. I've been jealous since the car ride to Konoha. Um, to put it simply, I'm telling you right now, you broke me, Sakura." And with those words, he did the last she ever expected him to do. He stepped forward, so their bodies were pressed together, and he bent his head and kissed her. The kiss was soft, love filled and short. Sasuke leaned back to see the content look on my face.

"I love you, Sakura-chan" Sasuke whispered. Sakura slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

"I love you too, Sasuke-kun" we began to walk back towards the campground, hand in hand. Just before we reached it, I whispered to Sasuke,

"We're sharing a tent, thanks to Ibiki. Kakashi told him about the mission and not actually being his kids. He was already in charge of the tent pairings, and he paired up all the couples. I wonder why he didn't pair up me and Sai, though." I said thoughtfully.

"I'm glad he didn't. then you wouldn't be with me." Sasuke whispered back.


End file.
